US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

Aires makes some really high quality stuff- as good as these look I'd LOVE to see the masters that they're molded from.   Someone is doing incredibly fine work in the Czech Republic.

Thats some really nice Resin and PE you got there, Dre!

Can't wait to see your progress on this!

Clemens

Thanks, I'm really optimistic that I can get all this built and painted within a 6 month time frame, as my last finished project took a year with far less AM involved...  but I set the goal so there's nothing left but to drive on.   I'm going to waste a lot of time at work digging up photos for references!

Dre,

Ah, now that is the spirit. I only have one piece of resin to add, an electronics canoe but I might want to throw a mold because I have designs on an ERA-3B that was a fleet threat that I need the same canoe for. Pretty cool, ghost gray over white eith a big Russian 10 on the nose and a red star on the tail.

I'm debating whether I want to scratch the electronic warfare station in the former Bombay. The only way to see it would be to open the new door I was just going to scribe.

I've stuck my 'Cat back in her normal spot on the shelf, but I did give her resin private parts a bath a couple of months ago.

I promised some products shots, and here's "what the Rock is cooking"...

The kit- 1/32 Trumpeter F-14D Super Tomcat

inside the box

some of the Eduard PE that I intend to use (but not all of it due to the resin stuff)

the Aires cockpit set (this stuff is awesome, can't wait to start painting!)

the Aires wheel wells set (again, really high quality)

and the Aires/Wheeliant wheels set (so much better than the kit parts)

The kit comes with 3 different decal sets for VF-213 USS Carl Vinson,  VF-2 "Bounty Hunters" USS Constellation (2003) and VF-31 CAG bird USS Theodore Roosevelt.   I'm leaning towards the lo-vis scheme of VF-213, but I won't truly decide until I start slinging paint.

So...  is it 5/15 yet???

I'll be washing/degreasing the Aires resin sets and doing a bunch of cockpit research today in preparation for this GB...  gotta have some reference materials to use.

I am very excited! I can't wait to start that damn Wildcat!

Clemens

Ghost, That is great, gearing up.

Anybody else excited for 5/15?

got my PE cockpit today, nothing too fancy, just the Eduard TBM-3 zoom set and some masks for the canopy.

I was all excited to find a package waiting for me last night until I opened it to find someone else's order inside...  total bummer.   But, the right package full of resin sweetness arrived today and I'll post the goodies later tonight.

Gotta send the wrong stuff back, too bad as I could use the carbon fiber decals for something else...

So many AM goodies in one place! Thats a really nice Collection you have there!

The amount of AM stuff I'll use for my big THunderbolt (Hasegawa) is a joke compared to this. I will use:

• Hasegawa P-47D
• Eduard Big Ed (cockpit, exterior, masks)
• Aires gear bays
• Barracuda wheels
• Master gun barrels
• HGW seatbelts
• Quickboost engine
• Kitsworld decals for "Eight Nifties"

Cheers, Clemens 

SchattenSpartan

Let me guess:

If you put all the AM stuff on the box of the kit, there would be no box visible on the pics?

Well that was an interesting challenge, so I pulled out the box and took out my stuff. I have more stuff in there than I remembered. I had to pile stuff on stuff just to get it on the boxtop.

If you look closely, you can just see the sidewall of the box at the bottom of the photo. Note to self: Total expense of the build decreases if you don't purchase your AM over 30 years. <VVBG>

If you wanted to print that at home, you're SOL, home printers can't generally do the white stuff.  You might be able to find a print shop that can do it for you.  It shouldn't be hard to find the decal paper.

Here is a pic of the nose-art:

I would need  a decal for it twice: 

One for each side

I found one!

It's called "Yankee Warrior" and it has a lovely nose-art:

An Eagle carrying a bomb! Only problem is: I can't find any decals for this plane. :(

I am fully aware of the fact that it was renamed "Yankee Warrior" and got this nose-art after it's restauration.

The number on the tail should be no problem as well as the US roundels, but I need a decal for that nose- art! This machine would be perfect, as it looks awesome and it is a D model, so I can take the AM kit.

Is there any way of getting some custom-made decals?

Any help or suggestion ob this would be a great help.

Cheers, Clemens

SchattenSpartan

Ah, now they work!

And that are some nice pics! Where are they from?

And the big plane on the 3rd pic: Is that a Mitchell?

Yeah, I found the first one through google, then the rest of them on the website

http://ww2db.com/

That is a Mitchell, that shot was taken on the Hornet during the Doolittle raid.  I checked the same website for Mitchell pics, most were painted in one form of camo or another, the few NMF ones didn't identify the exact model.  these were all from late in the war though, so they were probably later model Mitchells.

ehh, they were just "PBJs before the transfer",,,,,,,,but, I only saw Olive Drab over Gray and Blue variations of PBJs,,,,,,so even that doesn't help you

Thank you, Rex.

Opened another thread for my B-25 problems, as they don't belong in here.

Clemens

I have extremely limited USAAF stuff*,,,,,,,but, I didn't see any NMF early B-25 while flipping through Air Force Colors,,,,,,,,all the NMF I did see were J models (*I gave almost all my non USN stuff away when I narrowed my focus down)

Now I wondering if the decal sheet confused F-1 from VF-3 with F-1 from VF-2.  

The top picture actually shows two aircraft piloted by Jimmy Thach (in -1) and Butch O'Hare (in -13), both with VF-3, nominally assigned to USS Saratoga.  VF-3 did fly from Lexington in Feb/Mar 42, when Butch earned his Medal of Honor, this according to Osprey's Wildcat Aces of World War 2.  

But by Coral Sea, VF-2 was back with Lex, and F-1 was flown by Paul Ramsey, commanding the squadron.

Anyway, I sent Mark at Starfighter Decals an email, asking for clarification.

And thanks to all of you for your input.

Ah, now they work!

And that are some nice pics! Where are they from?

And the big plane on the 3rd pic: Is that a Mitchell?

hmm, try copying the url into your address bar

Still not working for me :(

I can only view the 1st picture.

Sometimes, hotlinking photos can be a bit funky, here's the URLs of each one if you can't see it:

http://ww2today.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/USS_Lexington_Wildcats_April_1942.jpeg

http://ww2db.com/images/ship_enterprise21.jpg

http://ww2db.com/images/battle_doolittle76.jpg

http://ww2db.com/images/51046e532dddd.jpg

TarnShip

gotta love that pic of Ghostrider's up there too

Does anyone of you know about a B-25 (B, C or D) with NMF?

Clemens

gotta love that pic of Ghostrider's up there too

Thanks, Ghost.  Some of the pics didn't come through, but I think I get the idea from what you wrote. 

If there are no photos, who can say anything with certainty?  I wonder if any pictures went down with both ships.

I appreciate your assist.

Maybe emailing Mark would be the thing to do, Rex.  I have the Midway set too, but haven't looked at it closely, so I missed the note about both wings.  From this website, I assumed it was the same set up already at Coral Sea:  http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq2-1.htm

But as you say, it could well be some individual variations.  Mark does note that the Lex's air group was slow to change from white designators to black, on his 1/700 LAG sheet, so maybe both VF-2 and -42 used their own quirky interpretations of the regs.

Thanks for your insights.  Insignia and markings are things that fascinate me.

I did some checking, it appears that the switch over happened sometime in late April of '42.

here's a picture from Fighting 3 off the Lexington in April of '42

Note the star on the port wing.

Here's some of planes on the Enterprise in April of '42:

These already have stars on both wings.

A shot of Wildcats on the Hornet in April of '42:

It's hard to tell, but they also appear to have stars on the tops of both wings, so we know it wasn't just the Enterprise

Immediately after the battle, Fighting 6 on the Enterprise, May 12, '42

It's hard to see, but again, they appear to have stars on both wings.  The change to the star without the Meatball hasn't happened yet.

All of this suggests that, at the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the fleet was using the star and ball roundels on both wings.  However, I could not find pictures of Lexington or Yorktown aircraft from between the date of that first pic and the battle, so I don't know for sure that they changed when the rest of the fleet changed.